electrical etching?

[metalbender]

just occurred to me, the way I clean some roman coins that dont respond to soaks and brushes is electrolysis, anyone tried it yet with knives or fittings?
seems like it could be handy.

[Matt22191]

Yeah. My setup is really primitive, but I've used it to engrave my initials on a blade. Or do you mean etching the entire blade, as a replacement for chemicals like ferric chloride?

[metalbender]

meant as a replacement, seeing as ya can control voltage, and flow ie how much baking soda or salt etc to the water, also distance between peice and other electrode, in otherwords lots of nice controllable variables not to mention not having to nuetralize acids, and the complete lack of oxidation.

[Matt22191]

"and the complete lack of oxidation"

?

When I use my primitive setup to etch my initials on a piece, there's plenty of oxidation. It creates instant rust, which flakes off. That's what creates the impression in the surface of the steel.

But yeah, it's an interesting idea.

[metalbender]

ahh my bad, ive never used it with steel, with bronze coins they come out shiny

[metalbender]

Im prolly going to try it tonight on some wrought fittings ive been working on that I made from that bar stock, and on the knife i edge quenched, if not tonight then Ill definately be ready tommorow to try it! pics soon!

[Matt22191]

When you're cleaning coins, the coin is the cathode (negative terminal). In etching steel or iron you're going to make the steel or iron the anode (positive terminal).

By the way: if you use salt water for the electrolyte, this process will produce chlorine gas. When I'm doing just my initials on a small section of a blade, I figure the amount of chlorine liberated is so small that it's not worth worrying about. (I've never even been able to detect it.) But if you're trying to do something much larger than that, this could actually become a concern. Be careful. At a minimum, use good ventilation. Even better, work outside.

[Shakudo]

http://www.knifenetwork.com/forum/sh...hlight=etching

[Matt22191]

Great thread, Shakudo. Never would've thought about AC (which isn't really etching, but still sounds like it has some possibilities). Good stuff. Thanks!